Molded pulp article



Nov. 7, 1939.

M. P. CHAPLIN MOLDED PULP ARTICLE Filed May 26, 1937 Patented Nov. 7, 1939 2,178,832

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE f MOLDED PULP ARTICLE Merle P. Chaplin, South Portland, Maine, assignor to Chaplin Corporation, South Portland, Maine, a corporation of Maine Application May 26, 193w, Serial No. 144,905 6 Claims. (Cl. 229.2.5)

This invention relates to improvements in a outwardly inclined section l8, and aflange pormolded pulp article disclosed in my copending tion l1. Molded integrally with this flange porapplication Serial No. 113,308, filed'Nov. 30, 1936. tion l1, are a plurality of edge sections I 5, sep- This article is die molded from a liquid pulp arated by slots or notches I. These divided mixture on contoured suction dies and certain sections l5, terminate at their outer ends in an 5 portions of the article are so subdivided and angle-shaped formation consisting of an outshaped that they may be reformed into a new wardly and somewhat upwardly projecting'porposition or location to form a useful article of tion 20, and an outwardly and somewhat downcommerce. r wardly projecting portion 2|.

" 10 The article as die molded, is so shaped that The present invention resides largely in the 10 successive articles may be nested and stacked shape, construction and utility of the extending with each other to form a minimum of shipping edge portions l5, and the angle portions 20 and space for delivery to the consumer. After being 2|. It will be understood that the central porreceived these articles may be readily reshaped, tions l8 and I9, together with the rim portions and held in reshaped position forming a new l1 can be made any desired shape or depth in 15 and useful container. accordance with the use to which the reshaped This application has to do with improvements article may be put. The particular design illus on the article, itself, and principally with the tratedis only one of many different shapes which divided edge portion. might be employed.

In the design previously disclosed, no provi- I The article illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2, after sion was made in the design of the divided edge being die molded and dried, is shipped to the portion, to insure that this portion, when reconsumer in closely nested bundles or stacks. shaped, formed a perfect circle or rested fiat After being received, each molded pulp article and uniformly on its support. Certain further is removed from the nested stack and the eximprovements in the locking edge construction tended edge portions, hereinafter described, are have been found'desirable in order to make the reformed or reshaped, being bent or folded on lower edge portions of the reshapedarticle more lines I6, into a new position bringing their segsturdy and to provide for better stacking of sumented edge portions into mutually abutting and perimposed reshaped article. alining rela on and forming a substantially con- Reference is made to the following figures: tinuous rim about the periphery of the article,

Fig. 1 is a half plan view of the article before extending in a vertical direction normal to its F reshaping.- base, and adapted to support the container por- Fig. 2 is a side view of the article of Fig. 1 tion of the article rigidly and firmly. The rehalf in section, taken on line 2-2, Fig. 1, the shaped portions may be held in place by a ring other half, an exterior view. or band which, in turn, may be further utilized 35 Fig. 3 is a plan view of two adjacent edge secto support another reshaped article.

tions before reshaping. In my prior disclosure I provided an angle- Fig. 3a is a sectional view thru the center shaped formation on the end of sectional memof the slot of Fig. 3, or as indicated at line 3a, bers 15, which, when reshaped, form substan- Fig. 1. tially a right-angle portion or locking section 0 Fig. 4 is a plan view of the sectional edge of about the edge of the article. While this provided the article after it has been partially reshaped. a reasonably satisfactory construction and de- Fig, 4-1; is a sectional view thru the slot of sign, it was found that under extreme conditions Fig. 4. in the handling of the reshaped article, that even Fig; 5 is a plan view of the sectional edge of though the adjacent edges of extending por- 45 the article after reshaping. tions l5, were abutted firmly together when the Fig. 5a is a sectional view on line with the. article was reshaped, that it was sometimes posclosed slot of Fig. 5. sible to push one of these sections inwardly and Fig. 6 is a view showing one reshaped article away from the retaining band and partially with its retaining bandsuperimposed onasimilar destroy the abutting or compression effect of 50 article.

several sections l5, one against the other. Fig. '7 is a view showing a modification of di- It will be noted that inthe design disclosed vided edge construction to facilitate stacking. herewith the section 20 and the section 2|, form The molded pulp article herein disclosed, conan acute-angle instead of a substantially rightsists of a fiat, central section IS, an upwardly and angle as shown in my prior application. This de- 55 sign permits a double locking of the sections II, as is more particularly illustrated in Fig. 6. In this figure the extended edge portions ll, have been reshaped into substantially vertical position and are held reshaped by a band member 23. Not only does this band member 23, restrain the segmental edge portions I! from resuming their original position, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, but also holds sections I! in mutually abutting 1o relation. -This construction also prevents sectidnal portions l5, from being pushed out of line inwardly, by a locking action between the flange portion 20 and the band 23. Thus, the design disclosed herein, provides for a more rigid and sturdy stacking edge portion than my prior dis- In my prior disclosure, the edge portions and 2|, of sectional portions ll, presented a true circle before said sections were reshaped. Con- 20 sequently, when these sections were reshaped inwardly and downwardly, they no longer assumed a true circle, nor did their lower edges rest flat on a supporting surface or on a supporting band. 0n the contrary, they presented a scalloped apcenter, presenting a somewhat unsightly appearance and failing to provide as much supporting surface as desirable. Such a condition is particularly undesirable where the angle portion is utilized to lock the edge portions l5, against both inward and outward movements.

It is, therefore, necessary to initially mold the angle portions 20 and 2|, together with the adjacent portion of part l5, so that they curve upwardly at point 26, and somewhat inwardly, in order that they may present a. true circle when reshaped, and lie flat on the table or other supporting member;

0 To illustrate this, reference is made to Figs.

3 and 3-41, 4 and 4-a and 5 and 5-4.

In Figs. 3 and 3-a the extended edge portion I5 is shown in its nil-reshaped condition or in a condition in which the molded article is shipped to the consumer. Slot II has not been reduced in size and this portion, together with the portions 20 and 2|, in the position shown in Figs. 3 and 3-0, permit the articles to be nested.

In use, the extended edge portions I5 are 0 brought into substantially vertical position and Figs. 4 and 4-4:, show this operation approximately one-half completed. Slot ll has become partially closed and the curved portion 2!, between the ends 21 of parts I, hasassumed a 5 partially flat position. Continuing the reshaping of the extended portions i5, brings the ends 21 of mutually adjoining sections I! intoabutting relation, and the slot I4 is closed at its bottom end. Under these conditions, as'shown go in Fig. 5-41, the bottom surface of the edge portions 2|! and 2|, has. assumed a substantially straight line from the ends 21 thru the center 20, affording a complete uniformly flat surface on which the article may be supported, thus avoidas ing the uneven support and scalloped effect of my previous design.

A further improvement found desirable in some instances, is disclosedin Fig. '1. This improvement is to facilitate the stacking of superimposed articles and, particularly, to insure an additional centering and locking effect of a superimposed article on the band of a sub-adjacent article. In this modified design shown in Fig. '1, the extended edge portion l5, instead of being perfectly straight, is molded at its lower edge adjacent to section 2|, with an inwardly projecting section iii-a. This enables the inner part of section 22 at point 28, to be moved inwardly, relative to the band 23, so that the upper end of this band, when the article is resting thereon, will be some- 5 what restrained against inward movement and, further, will have some tendency to move outwardly when a superimposed article is placed thereon, due to the tapering character of the bottom surface of section 22. 1

The outward movement of band 23 will be limited by section 2|, and the V-shaped form of sections 2|! and 2| indicated at point", will form an efficient locking and centering means-for superimposing articles, preventing them when 15 stacked, from being easily shaken out of place. The effectiveness of the modifled design illustrated in Fig. "I over that illustrated in Fig. 6 so far as centering and locking stacked articles is concerned is readily apparent. 20

Having thus described my invention what I claim is:

l. A fibrous container comprising a bottom, an outwardly and upwardly flared wall encompassing said bottom, a flange integral with said flared 25 wall and extending outwardly therefrom, said flange having slots extending inwardly from the edge thereof to points adjacent said flared wall and dividing said flange into spaced sections, each section being bendable along a line adjacent said so flared wall to a reshaped and reformed position, and being slightly concaved from slot to slot adjacent its edge, whereby when said sections are bent into a substantially vertical position, they will form a circle and lie flat on a supporting as member.

2. A fibrous container comprising a bottom, an outwardly and upwardly flared wall encompassing said bottom, a flange integral with said flared wall and extending outwardly therefrom, said flange having slots extending inwardly from the edge thereof to points adjacent said flared wall and dividing said flange into spaced sections, each section being slightly concaved from slot to slot adjacent its edge, and said sections having a reverse bend along their outer edges forming an acute, angularly conformed recess adjacent said edges for reception of a restraining band effective to prevent the sectional edge portions from moving outwardly or inwardly.

3. A fibrous container comprising a bottom, an outwardly and upwardly flared wall encompassing said bottom, aflange integral with said flared wall and extending outwardly therefrom, said flange having slots extending inwardly from the edge thereof to points adjacent said flared wall and dividing said flange into spaced sections, each section being slightly concaved from slot to slot adjacent its edge, and said sections having a reverse bend along their outer edges forming an m acute, angularly conformed recess adjacent said edges for reception of a restraining band effective to prevent the sectional edge portions from moving outwardly or inwardly, and a downwardly projecting portion substantially parallel to the flange externally spaced therefrom to provide a seat for the reception of a duplicate assembly.

4. A flbrous container comprising a bottom, an outwardly and upwardly flared wall encompassing said bottom, a flange integral with said flared 7 wall and extending outwardly therefrom, said flange having slots extending inwardly from' the edge thereof to points adjacent said flared wall and dividing said flange into spaced sections, each section being slightly concaved from slot to 1 slot adjacent its edge, and said sections having a reverse bend along their outer edges forming an acute, angularly conformed recess adjacent said edges for reception of a restraining band effective to prevent the sectional edge portions from moving outwardly or inwardly, and a restraining band seated in said recess, said band being of greater width than the overall height of the container, positioned to encompass said sections and to extend substantially above the top of the container for seating in the angularly conformed recess of a duplicate assembly.

5. A fibrous container comprising a bottom, an outwardly and upwardly flared wall encompassing said bottom, a flange integral with said flared wall and extending outwardly therefrom, said flange having slots extending inwardly from the edge thereof to points adjacent said flared v wall and dividing said flange into spaced sections, each section being slightly concaved from slot to slot adjacent its edge, and said sections having a reverse bend along their outer edges forming an acute, angularly conformed recess adjacent said edges for reception of a restraining band effective to prevent the sectional edge portions from moving outwardly or inwardly, and a restra ning band seated in said recess, and

a downwardly projecting portion substantially parallel to the flange externally spaced therefrom, to provide a seat for the reception of a duplicate assembly, said band being of greater width than the overall height of the container, positioned to encompass said sections and to extend substantially above the top of the container for seating in the angularly conformed recess of a duplicate assembly.

6. A flbrous container comprising a bottom, an outwardly and upwardly flared wall encompassing said bottom, a flange integral with said flared wall and extending outwardly therefrom, said flange having slots extending inwardly from the edge thereof to points adjacent said flared wall and dividing said flange into spaced sections, each section being slightly concaved from slot to slot adjacent its edge, and said sections having a reverse bend along their outer edges forming an angular conformation at said edges, the extreme outer edge portion of each section between its reverseiy bent portion and the flared wall being bent inwardly to a greater angle with respect to the flared wall, than the remainder of said section.

MERLE P. CHAPLIN. 

